1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the neck joint in a stringed musical instrument such as a guitar. A guitar has two primary parts, including the body of the guitar and the neck of the guitar. The neck is attached to the body at the neck joint.
There are many techniques for connecting the neck with the body of the musical instrument. It is important that the neck is attached securely and rigidly, such that the neck does not move relative to the body.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are several ways of attaching a neck to a guitar body, and the techniques used have evolved over time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,793,556 by MacCaferri uses a support bar within the body of the guitar. The neck is bolted to the support bar and then separate bolts connect the body of the guitar to the neck. The forces exerted by the neck and the strings are carried by the support bar instead of the body of the guitar. The support bar extends through the entire body of the guitar and terminates at the back end of the guitar.
Fender, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,302,507 describes an adjustable support bar that runs the length of the body of the guitar. The neck is joined to a neck receiving area by screws and is held in place by a stop or key member, which is a wood or metal dowel received in both the neck and neck receiving area of the body. The stop, combined with the support bar and the neck receiving area, prevent the pressure from the strings from distorting the body of the guitar.
Fender also discloses an electric guitar body with a standardized slot for receiving a guitar neck, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,906. The guitar neck has a standardized back end with the front or fret side being a variable size. Because the guitar neck has a standard sized back end, various guitar necks can be fixed to a single guitar body and the guitar neck can be changed to change the performance and appearance of the guitar without having to purchase an entirely new instrument.
Boulanger, et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,819 describes a neck with slightly angled sides such that the neck forms a wedge pointing away from the head of the neck. The neck receiving area in the body has parallel sides. There is a bearing pin with a cam, which is received in holes in the neck and the body. The bearing pin holes in the neck and the body are slightly off center, so that when the neck and the body are clamped together with the bearing pin received in the bearing pin holes, the neck is wedged and crushed into the neck receiving cavity. Notches are formed in the neck to accommodate glue to better secure the neck and the body together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,539 by Steinberger describes three embodiments for pushing the neck into a side bearing surface of the neck receiving cavity in the body. The first embodiment is simply to angle the screws that hold the neck and the body together. The next embodiment includes an angled pressure piece set in the neck that engages a stop. The pressure piece is angled such that when the stop is pressed into the pressure piece the neck is pushed against the side of the neck receiving cavity. The stop is pressed into the pressure piece in a perpendicular line to the length of the neck. The third embodiment is similar to the second in that an angled pressure piece is pushed by a stop such that the neck is pushed into the side of the neck receiving cavity. However, in the third embodiment the stop is parallel to the length of the neck.
Another patent by Steinberger, U.S. Pat. No. 6,265,648, describes a pivot point for the neck with a spring urging the neck one way and an adjustment member mounted to move in a direction opposing the biasing force of the spring. The adjustment member presses on a pressure plate which is angled to urge the neck into a side surface. The invention also includes an intonation adjustment to adjust the distance between the bridge on the body of the guitar and the nut on the neck of the guitar. The intonation adjustment has an angled bearing member which also urges the neck into a side surface of the neck receiving cavity in the body of the guitar.